Episode 2 of 3
Crossing the Columbia Bar
- When
- May 12, 1792
- Where
- Columbia Bar
On May 12, 1792, Gray crossed the hazardous Columbia Bar, becoming the first known explorer of European descent to enter the river.
Following the entry into the estuary, Gray returned south on May 12 to cross the Columbia Bar, a shifting sandbar known for hazardous navigation. This act confirmed the river's navigability, contradicting earlier doubts by British Captain George Vancouver.
Sources
- Columbia River Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25
- Robert Gray's Columbia River expedition Wikipedia
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.